Hugo Ballin
Encyclopedia
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. When the Wisconsin State Capital was built in the early 20th Century, Ballin created 26 murals for its interior. In 1917 he began working for Goldwyn Pictures
Goldwyn Pictures
Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company founded in 1916 by Samuel Goldfish in partnership with Broadway producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn using an amalgamation of both last names to create the name...
in New Jersey as an art director and production designer and in 1921 he moved to Los Angeles at the request of Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
. He was soon also directing, writing, and producing silent films for his own production company. He was married to the actress Mabel Croft Ballin
Mabel Ballin
Mabel Ballin was an American motion-picture actress of the silent film era.-Early life and career:Born Mabel Croft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she originally studied painting. Her landscapes were noticed at an exhibition and led to an offer to appear in films. Ballin appeared in 28 films...
.
When Hollywood began making talking pictures
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
, Ballin left the film industry to return to his first career as a classically trained artist. He became one of the foremost muralists in the Los Angeles area, producing murals which still stand at landmark locations such as Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest...
, Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Wilshire Boulevard Temple, founded in 1862 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. One of the country’s most respected Reform congregations, Wilshire Boulevard Temple's magnificent sanctuary, with its iconic dome and Warner Murals, is a City of...
, LA County General Hospital (now known as Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, also known as County/USC, by the abbreviation LAC+USC, or by the name Los Angeles County General, is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California...
), and Burbank City Hall.
He is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica
Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica
Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery is located at 1847 14th Street in Santa Monica, California.-Notable burials:*Hugo Ballin , artist*Mabel Ballin , Actress*George Bancroft , actor...
.
Selected murals
- Burbank Industry Mural (Burbank City HallBurbank City HallBurbank City Hall is the site of the municipal government of Burbank, California, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Designed by architects William Allen and W. George Lutzi in the Moderne or Art Deco style, ground was broken in February 1941 and construction was completed in...
) - Medical Science Fresco (LAC-USC Medical Center)
- Mural at the Los Angeles Times Building
- Mural at the Title Insurance and Trust Co. Building (now the Los Angeles Design Center)
- Rudimentary Education mural (El Rodeo Elementary School)
- The Apotheosis of Power (Southern California Edison Company)
- The Four Freedoms Mural (Burbank City HallBurbank City HallBurbank City Hall is the site of the municipal government of Burbank, California, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Designed by architects William Allen and W. George Lutzi in the Moderne or Art Deco style, ground was broken in February 1941 and construction was completed in...
) - The March of Science Through the Ages (Griffith Park Observatory)
- The Treaty of Cahuenga (Title Guarantee Building)
- Warner Memorial Murals (Wilshire Boulevard TempleWilshire Boulevard TempleWilshire Boulevard Temple, founded in 1862 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. One of the country’s most respected Reform congregations, Wilshire Boulevard Temple's magnificent sanctuary, with its iconic dome and Warner Murals, is a City of...
) - Water, Power, and Light mural (Burbank Water and Power Administration Building)
Selected filmography
- The Glorious AdventureThe Glorious AdventureThe Glorious Adventure was an American silent film which was one of the last made in the Kinemacolor process.-Production background:...
(1918) - Jane Eyre (1921)
- Other Women's Clothes (1922)
- Vanity FairVanity Fair (1923 film)Vanity Fair is a silent feature film directed by Hugo Ballin and released by Samuel Goldwyn.-Production background:The film included one sequence filmed in color by Prizmacolor. This silent film was a version of the novel Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray...
(1923) - Souls for SaleSouls for SaleSouls for Sale is a silent film written, directed, and produced by Rupert Hughes from his novel of the same name. The film featured Eleanor Boardman in her first leading role, having won a contract with Goldwyn Studios through their "New Faces of 1921" contest just two years prior.The film is most...
(1923) - The Shining Adventure (1925)
- The Prairie WifeThe Prairie WifeThe Prairie Wife is a 1925 Western film directed by Hugo Ballin and featuring Boris Karloff. The film is considered to be lost.-Cast:* Dorothy Devore - Chaddie Green* Herbert Rawlinson - Duncan MacKail* Gibson Gowland - Ollie* Leslie Stuart - Percy...
(1925) - The Love of SunyaThe Love of SunyaThe Love of Sunya is a silent film directed by Albert Parker, and based on the play The Eyes of Youth by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon. Produced by and starring Gloria Swanson, it also stars John Boles and Pauline Garon. It premiered at the grand opening of the Roxy Theatre in New York City on...
(1927) produced by and starring Gloria SwansonGloria SwansonGloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...